Hello,
I am pleased to announce that the 2021 Census of Population questionnaire has been published on Statistics Canada’s website.
Statistics Canada will conduct the next census in May 2021, and the questions being asked reflect our needs for information based on rigorous testing. Canadians have relied on census data to tell us about how our country is changing and what matters to us, for over a century.
Through good and challenging times, the census has been depicting Canada’s changing mosaic—giving Canadians facts on where they came from, where they are, and where they are heading. We all depend on key socio-economic trends and analysis from the census to make important decisions that affect our families, our neighbourhoods and our businesses.
Decisions on the 2021 Census have been made in collaboration with Canadians and for Canadians. To write the next chapter of Canada’s data foundation, Statistics Canada conducted country-wide engagements as well as a census test with over 135,000 households. This helped us to determine whether new or revised questions allowed for timely and relevant data—the kind of data that decision makers in communities across the country use to plan services that support employment, education and health care.
With census data, Canadian associations make complex decisions and customize programs to their members and constituents, thereby allowing for service delivery to be adjusted to local needs. Census data provides important information on our rich cultural and ethnic background, our linguistic profile and the diversity of the Canadian population. Statistics Canada needs your support and collaboration now more than ever to provide the foundation of methodologically sound, high quality data to respond to the needs of the nation.
Statistics Canada has adapted its approach to the reality of COVID-19 to ensure that every Canadian has an opportunity to be heard and that the 2021 Census is conducted in the best and safest way possible. We anticipate nearly 100% participation by all Canadians and 80% of them are expected to complete the questionnaire through an efficient, secure and user-friendly online application. The census has been re-designed to ensure Canadians and census enumerators are safe by limiting the amount of contact needed to participate in this important exercise.
With the continued support and collaboration of millions of Canadians, the new 2021 Census will provide even more accurate information, including disaggregated data that associations, governments, businesses, communities, and individual Canadians can trust to make informed decisions.
For an exclusive and in-depth look at the census, its history, the laws that regulate it, how it is planned and conducted, please consult Painting a Portrait of Canada: The 2021 Census of Population online.
For the latest 2021 Census information and developments, I invite you to visit our website The road to the 2021 Census and also follow us on social media.
Sincerely,
Anil Arora
Chief Statistician of Canada
Statistics Canada / Government of Canada
anil.arora@canada.ca